HR 1586, the Latest Union Sop
Today, the House will likely pass another “emergency spending” bill, HR 1586, an overused phrase that has come to mean “appease key interest group,” in this case, teachers unions. Democrats argue that Republicans are cold hearted at best, malevolent at worst, for opposing a $10 billion tax increase which will go directly to the “Education Jobs Fund.” The revenue collected from this tax increase will be spent keeping overly compensated teachers employed.
Teachers unions have lobbied themselves into a tight spot. They have advocated for wages and compensation so high, state taxpayers can no longer afford to pay them. Vincent Vernuccio highlights this problem in his recent piece in the American Spectator:
“Earlier this year the Milwaukee School Board announced that it was laying off 428 teachers due to budget shortfalls. The average Milwaukee teacher receives only $56,000 per year in salary, but also gets a generous $40,000 in benefits, including a health care plan that costs $26,000 per family, compared to $14,500 for private employees. The school board sought to cut costs and to keep the teachers by implementing cuts in benefits. A proposed health care plan would have instituted co-pays expected to yield $47.2 million in savings, more than enough to save every teacher's job. The union refused to bargain, instead opting for layoffs.”
After spending years and millions of dollars lobbying for exorbitant compensation, unions rarely--if ever--take pay cuts, thus forcing administrators to fire teachers. So while the Left decry’s Republicans, know that stubborn unions have created an artificial problem, necessitating, in their minds, HR 1586.
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